Not satisfied with his formations
accomplishments on the 19th, Army Commander Shcherbakov reiterated
his orders to capture Nikel, and again, Maj. General Absaliamovís 31st Rifle
Company was assigned the mission. Immediately in front of the corps was the
exceptionally strong German position on Hill 441 that blocked their advance on
the road to Nikel. The day before, the Soviets had nearly lost the entire 367th
Rifle Division on the initial assault. Russian tanks and self-propelled guns,
stumbling up the narrow, swamp flanked road, fell pray to well sited German
antitank guns. Those that made it through the deadly fire found the road
blocked right at the foot of the Germans position. Today though, Absaliamov
would not make the same mistake, for his command, in fact his life, demanded
he crush the German resistance and open the road to Nikel. Due to severe ammunition shortages, Soviet
artillery had no real effect on the German position.
Additionally, their overwhelming superiority in armor was of
no great value. Their armored columns could advance only
single file on the narrow, swampy roads and all to often fell
prey to either German AT fire or supporting AT mines. This
meant that Maj. General Absaliamovís 31st Rifle Company
had the unpleasant task of removing the roadblock by hand
(or DC) while sitting under the heavy, deadly accurate fire
from the German guns above.